I hope God put me on Earth to be cooking. I was born to it. My father was a butcher. I'm a butcher, too. Even when I was 7 years old, I would ask my mom if I could make lunch. Mixing all the ingredients together, it made me feel like a scientist. I was creating something. I loved it.

Who taught you to cook?

I was educated in cooking by my mom, my sister, and my aunts. We lived in a very ethnically mixed neighborhood. Mrs. Franco helped Mrs. Gonzales. When they stopped in to visit, they'd give people food.

I had a very adventurous childhood. My father was a cattle dealer. I saw the seasons traveling with him. In those days, you had broccoli and cauliflower four weeks a year. We knew when everything was ripe. We learned the signs.

You were picking things off the vine, rubbing them on your shirt and eating them. It was a wonderful, wonderful time. I didn't realize it, but I was learning.

We'd get a couple bushels of cauliflower, apples, nothing went to waste in our house. The first week we had cauliflower every which way possible. The rest of it was put by, canned, and we had it through the winter. Even now, if you are loaded with tomatoes, all you have to do is just freeze them the way they are. You don't have to peel them or anything. Then when you want to, you can take them out anytime to make your own sauce with all the wonderful flavor.

Have you been to culinary school?

Being a chef who was never trained has stood me in good stead. Chefs cook for other chefs. They've lost track of how America cooks. I cook for America, the way America cooks. There's no sin today in using a cake mix if it's going to get your family around the table. You can take a bottled sauce, sauté a little onion, add a little garlic and make it your own.

I'd rather have somebody pay for what they're eating, not just for the chef's artistry. Just as Julia Child said, "There's no bad food. Only bad food habits." If people are eating out six times a week, I can save them $5,000 a year just by eating in six times a week instead.

How did you get from lunch at 7 years old to a TV show?

Besides my abilities in food, God has given me the ability and talent (it has nothing to do with discipline) for my other love which is theater. I would sing, dance, act. One of my directors asked me to be a guest chef on his morning talk show. That was in the days of local morning talk shows. I remember I made a Swiss steak. It was so easy. He asked me, "Can you come back next month?" Sure. Then it was, "Would you come back next week?" The mail was astounding.

We got it down to a minute-and-a-half to two-minute show. That's the most desirable time frame for news directors. We showed it to nine stations and they picked it up. We were approached by KingWorld and pretty soon we were all around the country. KingWorld was running the whole kit and kaboodle.

That was over 30 years ago. It just so happens WJRT-TV was one of my first stations. The people in Flint are real. That's real Americana. Everything is down to earth. The people in Flint still know how to eat, still know how to enjoy life. They don't take no guff from anybody and I love them.

How have you stayed in TV so long?

We're the longest continually running insert in the country. We stay up to the times. The big stuff now is the Internet. You have to go with the tide. You can go to mrfood.com and sign up for a newsletter. Once a month you can download a free e-cookbook. This week we're planning on back to school recipes.

We address everything as it is happening. We're featuring the Golden Chicken Casserole which starts with a biscuit mix and After School Cupcakes. You've got to help the person in the kitchen. These are things you're going to want now.

What makes your recipes special?

It should be fun. It should be easy. It should be available. It should be no-fail. We use as few ingredients as possible and ingredients that are available in any supermarket in the country.

Who would you like to cook with?

I'm a great, great friend of Rachel Ray. We both grew up in a small area. She seems so nice on television. She's as nice as she seems, 100 times nicer, as is Paula Deen. You've got to admit she's a real gal.

What is your most important tool/ingredient?

My most important tool is my spice rack. With a spice rack, there isn't anything you have to run out to the store for. You can travel the world with your spice rack. The excitement, the comfort, it's all there. It's your best pal.